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Davenport Overview

Davenport is 15 miles north of Santa Cruz on the rugged wildflower-covered Northern California central coast. The town has spectacular ocean views that are prime for whale viewing in the winter, and open expanses of land with beautiful redwood forests nearby.

It started out as a bustling whaling outpost in the 1800s, and even today, migrating whales are seen passing by and providing delight to those who enjoy watching them and their flumes in the distance.

Nowadays, Davenport is little more than a cute boutique highway stop with two stores, a post office, two restaurants, a café, and several somewhat hard to find art galleries. It’s not much but it holds a special place in the hearts of those who live there and the people who come for lunch on the weekends.

The residents it serves enjoy a village-like community and they are very friendly. The town also has a small community of farm workers who work the local artichoke and Brussels Sprout growing industry. You also may notice as you approach from either north or south, one of Davenport’s most dominating features¬—a huge industrial cement tower. The Cemex concrete company operates a processing plant here, but draws most of its employees from outside of Davenport. Although it’s a big plant, you may never know it’s there, as it’s just so quiet and hidden by the trees.